25 TAC §621.22
The Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)
adopts on an emergency basis an amendment to §621.22, concerning Definitions.
Elsewhere in this issue of the
Texas Register
,
the ECI contemporaneously proposes this amendment to §621.22.
This section amends the definition for "Parent". In review of the Texas
Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention annual application for
funding, the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education
Programs required immediate changes in ECI Rule and policies and procedures.
This section is adopted on an emergency basis to comply with federal regulations.
The amendment is adopted on an emergency basis under the Human
Resources Code, Chapter 73, which authorizes the Interagency Council on Early
Childhood Intervention to establish rules regarding services provided for
children with developmental delays.
§621.22.Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, will have
the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)
Assessment--The ongoing procedures used by appropriate
qualified personnel throughout the period of a child's eligibility to identify:
(A)
the child's unique needs and strengths;
(B)
the resources, priorities, and concerns of the family and
identification of supports and services necessary to enhance developmental
needs of the children; and
(C)
the nature and extent of intervention services needed by
the child and the family in order to resolve the determinations of this paragraph.
(2)
Child find--Activities and strategies designed to locate
and identify, as early as possible, infants and toddlers with developmental
delay.
(3)
Children--Infants and toddlers with disabilities.
(4)
Committee--Advisory Committee to the Interagency Council
on Early Childhood Intervention. Its functions are those of the Interagency
Coordinating Council described in the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act, Public Law 105-17.
(5)
Complaint--A formal written allegation submitted to the
council stating that a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act, or an applicable federal or state regulation has been violated.
(6)
Comprehensive services--Individualized intervention services,
as determined by the interdisciplinary team and listed in the Individualized
Family Service Plan (IFSP). Services are further defined in §621.23(5)(C)-(E)
of this title (relating to Service Delivery Requirements for Comprehensive
Services). Programs receiving funds from the Interagency Council on Early
Childhood Intervention are required to have the capacity to provide or arrange
for all services listed in §621.23(5)(C) of this title (relating to Service
Delivery Requirements for Comprehensive Services).
(7)
Council--The entity designated as the lead agency by the
governor under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The council
has the final authority and responsibility for the administration, supervision,
and monitoring of programs and activities under this system. The council has
the final authority for the obligation and expenditure of funds and compliance
with all applicable laws and rules. The council board includes eight lay members
who are family members of children with developmental delay, appointed by
the governor with the advice and consent of the senate, and one member from
the Texas Education Agency appointed by the commissioner of education. Five
of the lay members must be the parents of children who are receiving or have
received early childhood intervention services. The board shall also have
fully participating, non voting representatives appointed by the commissioner
or executive head of the following agencies: Texas Department of Health (TDH),
Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS), Texas Department of Mental Health
and Mental Retardation (TDMHMR), Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
(TCADA), Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (TDPRS), and
the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
(8)
Days--Calendar days.
(9)
Developmental delay--A significant variation in normal
development in one or more of the following areas as measured and determined
by appropriate diagnostic instruments or procedures administered by an interdisciplinary
team and by informed clinical opinion: cognitive development; physical development,
including vision and hearing, gross and fine motor skills, and nutrition status;
communication development; social and emotional development; and adaptive
development.
(10)
Early Childhood Intervention Program (ECI)--The total
effort in Texas directed toward meeting the needs of children eligible under
this chapter and their families.
(11)
Evaluation--The procedures used by appropriate qualified
personnel to determine the child's initial and continuing eligibility, consistent
with the definition of infants and toddlers with developmental delay, including
determining the status of the child in areas of cognitive development, physical
development, communication development, social-emotional development, and
adaptive development or self-help skills.
(12)
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)--Requirements
for the protection of parents and children under the General Education Provisions
Act, §438, which include confidentiality, disclosure of personally identifiable
information, and the right to inspect records.
(13)
Full year services--The availability of an array of comprehensive
services throughout the calendar year.
(14)
Include(ing)--The items named are not all of the possible
items that are covered whether like or unlike the ones named.
(15)
Individual professional development plan (IPDP)--A written
plan for inservice or continuing education to be prepared annually for each
staff person in a program.
(16)
Individualized family service plan (IFSP)--A written plan,
developed by the interdisciplinary team, based on all assessment and evaluation
information, including the family's description of their strengths and needs,
which outlines the early intervention services for the child and the child's
family.
(17)
Intake--The first face-to-face contact with a parent following
initial referral.
(18)
Interdisciplinary team--The child's parent(s) and a minimum
of two professionals from different disciplines who meet to share evaluation
information, determine eligibility, assess needs, and develop the IFSP. The
team must include the service coordinator who has been working with the family
since the initial referral or the person responsible for implementing the
IFSP and a person directly involved in conducting the evaluations and assessments.
(19)
Parent-
A natural or adoptive parent of a child, a
guardian, a person acting in the place of a parent (such as a grandparent
or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible
for the child's welfare), or an appointed surrogate parent, Term does not
include state if child is ward of the state.
[
A parent, a guardian,
a person acting as a parent of a child or an appointed surrogate parent.
]
(20)
Personally identifiable information--Information which
includes:
(A)
the name of the child;
(B)
the name of the child's parent, or other family member;
(C)
the address of the child, parent, or other family member;
(D)
a personal identifier, such as the child's or parent's
social security number; or
(E)
a list of personal characteristics or other information
that would make it possible to identify or trace the child, the parent, or
other family member, with reasonable certainty.
(21)
Primary referral sources--Individuals or organizations
which refer children including, but not limited to:
(A)
hospitals, including prenatal and postnatal care facilities;
(B)
physicians;
(C)
parents;
(D)
day care programs;
(E)
local educational agencies;
(F)
public health facilities;
(G)
other social service agencies;
(H)
other health care providers; and
(I)
congregate care facilities.
(22)
Program--A division of a local agency with the express
and sole purpose of implementing comprehensive early childhood intervention
services to children with developmental delays and their families.
(23)
Provider--A local private or public agency with proper
legal status and governed by a board of directors that accepts funds from
the Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention to administer the
Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Program.
(24)
Public agency--The Interagency Council on Early Childhood
Intervention and any other political subdivision of the state that is responsible
for providing early intervention services to eligible children under the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, Part C.
(25)
Public health clinic--Any clinic that provides pediatric
physical examinations and receives public funding from federal, state, city,
or county governments.
(26)
Qualified--A person who has met state approval or recognized
certificate, license, registration, or other comparable requirements that
apply to the area in which the person is providing early intervention services.
(27)
Referral date--The date the child's name and sufficient
information to contact the family was obtained by the agency receiving funds
from the Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention.
(28)
Service coordinator (case manager)--A staff person assigned
to a child or family who is the single contact point for families, and who
is responsible for assisting and empowering families to receive the rights,
procedural safeguards, and services authorized by these rules and ECI policy
and procedures. The service coordinator is from the profession most immediately
related to the child's or family's needs. (The term profession includes service
coordination.)
(29)
Services--Individualized intervention services, as determined
by the interdisciplinary team and listed in the IFSP. Services are further
defined in §621.23(5)(C)-(E) of this title (relating to Service Delivery
Requirements).
(30)
Supplanting--The withdrawal of local, private, or other
public funds for services which were available during the previous year of
funding.
(31)
Surrogate parent--An individual appointed or assigned
to take the place of a parent for the purposes of Chapter 73 of the Human
Resources Code when no parent can be identified or located or when the child
is under managing conservatorship of the state. A surrogate parent appointed
under this chapter shall act to advocate for or represent the child, relating
to the identification, evaluation, educational placement, and provision of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part C services.
(32)
Transportation services--Travel and other related costs
that are necessary to enable a child or family to receive early intervention
services.
(33)
UGCMS--Uniform grant management standards adopted by the
governor's Office of Budget and Planning in 1 TAC §§5.141-5.167
under authority of Texas Civil Statutes, Article 4413(32g).
Filed with the
Office of the Secretary of State, on July 24, 2000.
TRD-200005090
Donna Samuelson
Deputy Executive Director
Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention
Effective date: July 24, 2000
Expiration date: November 21, 2000
For further information, please call: (512) 424-6750
Subchapter C. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS AND DUE PROCESS PROCEDURES
25 TAC §621.42
The Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)
adopts on an emergency basis an amendment to §621.42, concerning Early
Childhood Intervention Council Procedures for Resolving Complaints.
Elsewhere in this issue of the
Texas Register
, the ECI contemporaneously proposes this amendment to §621.42.
This section amends §621.42(d)(6) by adding the following new language:
"In resolving a complaint in which it finds a failure to provide appropriate
services, the executive director will remediate the denial of those services,
including, as appropriate, the awarding of monetary reimbursement or other
corrective action appropriate to the needs of the child and the child's family;
and appropriate future provision of services for all infants and toddlers
with disabilities and their families". Current §621.42(d)(6) will be
renumbered to new paragraph (7).
This section is adopted on an emergency basis to comply with federal regulations.
The amendment is adopted on an emergency basis under the Human
Resources Code, Chapter 73, which authorizes the Interagency Council on Early
Childhood Intervention to establish rules regarding services provided for
children with developmental delays.
§621.42.Early Childhood Intervention Council Procedures for Resolving Complaints.
(a)
An individual or organization may file a complaint with
the Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention (council) alleging
that a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part
C (Act) or applicable federal and/or state regulations has been violated.
The complaint must be in writing, be signed, and include a statement of the
facts on which the complaint is based.
(b)
A complaint may be filed directly with the council without
having been filed with the local provider.
(c)
Procedures for receipt of complaint are as follows.
(1)
All complaints received by the council shall be forwarded
to the deputy executive director. The deputy executive director will log and
assign all complaints, monitor the resolution of those complaints, and maintain
a copy of all complaints for a five-year period.
(2)
The council will have the following information entered
in the data file: name of complainant, name of program if applicable, date
received, type of complaint, action taken, followup, and case-closed date.
Letters of acknowledgment will be mailed by the deputy executive director
to the program and to the complainant or to the third party if the complaint
was forwarded by someone other than the complainant, such as the governor's
office.
(3)
A complaint should be clearly distinguished from a request
for an administrative proceeding.
(4)
Complaints referred by other government offices will also
be considered under these procedures.
(d)
Procedures for investigation and resolution of complaints.
(1)
After receipt of the complaint, the deputy executive director
will assign a staff person to conduct an individual investigation, on-site
if necessary, to make a recommendation to the executive director for resolution
of the complaint.
(A)
The complainant will have the opportunity to submit additional
information, either orally or in writing, about the allegations in the complaint.
(B)
All relevant information will be reviewed and an independent
determination made as to whether a violation to the requirements of the Act,
occurred.
(2)
Within 60 days of the receipt of the complaint the executive
director must resolve the complaint.
(3)
An extension of the time limit under paragraph (2) of this
subsection shall be granted only if exceptional circumstances exist with respect
to a particular complaint.
(4)
Complainants shall be informed in writing of the final
decision of the executive director and of their right to request the secretary
of the United States Department of Education to review the final decision
of the executive director. The executive director's written decision to the
complainant will address each allegation in the complaint and contain:
(A)
findings of fact and conclusions; and
(B)
reasons for the final decision.
(5)
To ensure that effective implementation of the executive
director's final decision, the deputy executive director will assign a staff
person to provide technical assistance and appropriate followup to the parties
involved in the complaint to achieve compliance with any corrective actions
when necessary.
(6)
In resolving a complaint in which it finds
a failure to provide appropriate services, the executive director will remediate
the denial of those services, including, as appropriate, the awarding of monetary
reimbursement or other corrective action appropriate to the needs of the child
and the child's family; and appropriate future provision of services for all
infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
(7)
[
(6)
] When a compliant is filed,
the deputy executive director will offer mediation services as an alternative
to proceeding with the complaint investigation. Mediation may be used when
both parties agree. A parent's right to a due process hearing or complaint
investigation will not be denied or delayed because they chose to participate
in mediation. The complaint investigation will continue and be resolved within
60 days even if mediation is used as the resolution process.
Filed with the
Office of the Secretary of State, on July 24, 2000.
TRD-200005091
Donna Samuelson
Deputy Executive Director
Interagency Council on Early Childhood Intervention
Effective date: July 24, 2000
Expiration date: November 21, 2000
For further information, please call: (512) 424-6750